Throwback Blog: Records, Streaks, Counts, Combinations Matter Briefly

Blogger’s Note: Throwback blogs are blogs from my past. I start posting past blogs reflecting what I wrote. It's like my "A Second Look" blogs for which I give myself feedback.

Today's throwback blog is titled Records, Streaks, Counts, Combinations Matter Briefly written on Sep 21, 2016. Today's throwback blog is also an Update On A Past Blog. I combine the Throwback Blog and Update On A Past Blog.

Update On A Past Blog

The Records, Streaks, Counts, Combinations Matter Briefly blog is forget about the bad luck, bad timing, counting failures, and remembering those moments. Stop the snowballing of adding the little bad moments and negative outcomes. We forget the positive streaks and negative streaks count in time. Remembering the positive streaks in the future is okay. Remembering the negative streaks in the future is a waste of time and is depressing. There is always a reset. There is always a new start. Zero is the beginning.

It took me three years to permanently adapt my wisdom acquired on Sep 2019 in Who Cares About The High Number Of Bad Luck? blog on Jan 1, 2020. I could have used the wisdom in 2018 when I experienced the worse and most bad lucks, bad timing, and unfortunate moments in a calendar year. I remembered them. I snowballed them. I should have forgotten them. I follow the two blogs' wisdom today. Nobody cares about my bad days. Stop counting the bad days. Never remember negative streaks.

We hear about the streaks, counting successes, counting failures, and keeping records daily. Some common examples are winning streaks and losing streaks in sports, number of days something happened or something didn't happen, and number of profitable quarters. The time spent counting must be short. It's okay to celebrate a victory. It's okay to express frustration. Thereafter, forget about the count.

For instance, I count the number of days I'm job searching. I feel sad when I reach a milestone number. I forget the number seconds later. Today is a new day. I continue job searching. I continue learning new job skills. Another instance is playing Mahjong (Riichi). I declared I'm ready to win waiting for my winning tile 11 times during an informal tournament. I won one time. I forgot about the 1 for 11 the next day and the next tournament. And I stopped counting the number of job phone interviews after 11. There have been too many.

Put the count to the back of the mind. It's a waste of time contemplating the positive streak or the negative streak. The next time it happens is new. It's a reset. Perform your way. Play your game. I believe baseball players take each at bat and take each defensive play separately. Don't worry about last place. Forget the negatives. Move forward. Take everything one at a time. Improve the successes. Correct the failures. Something different can happen. The score takes care of itself. The result takes care of itself. Good moments follow.

One Hour Can Make A Difference

I woke up one hour earlier today. I started my daily activities one hour earlier. One can say if I start one hour later, then I sleep one hour later. I still sleep eight hours a night. The clock moves one hour ahead. The logic makes sense. On the other hand, psychologically speaking, starting earlier feels good. Starting earlier is a motivation strength to be productive. There are more daylight hours starting earlier. A common knowledge clique is the best starts early. The project can't finish today. Continue tomorrow. The project can't start today. Start tomorrow. Unimportant today. Maybe there is time tomorrow. There is always tomorrow. Sleep earlier by one hour to wake up earlier by one hour.

Top Ten Plus Two Equals Top Twelve Reasons Working At Blockbuster Video Was Great

I worked at Blockbuster Video when I was a college student. It was my first retail job. Most people say working in retail sucked. It did when I was a young adult. I think back as a wiser grown adult. I think back being more educated. Today's blog is an example I can't change the past for better or for worse. I can change my opinion. Working at Blockbuster Video was great. I was fortunate the store manager accepted my part-time schedule being a full-time student. Here are the top twelve reasons working at Blockbuster Video was great:

12. The Square Person. Every group of people must have the square person. I was the square employee. Every group of people must have the naive person. I was the naive employee, too. Every group of people must have a slow person--not necessarily the slowest person in the world. Fortunately, I wasn't the slow person. The manager assigned the slow person two hours of work every week or every month.

A square person and/or a naive person is acceptable as long as he, she, or they have a good relationship with the group.

11. Honestly. There is no point being another person. Every worker and every manager were being themselves. There is no reason to fake it. Retail is low. I answer what is low and how low in number one.

10. Dress Shirts And Ties. All the male workers wore buttoned up dress-up shirts and ties on Fri night shifts. The store manager scheduled Fri night all males 90% of the time. I purchased one of my dress-up shirts at Mervyns.

9. Store Manager Pro-Employee. The store manager fixed problems fast. The store manager resolved employee complaints. For instance, one assistant manager lived a life full of drama taking out her stress on all employees. Employees complained. The assistant manager was transferred. My friends told me retail managers don't care. They were correct. My store manager was an outlier.

8. First Time Perks. Blockbuster offered free or reduced rentals. It was the first time I experienced a perk. Blockbuster changed the perk to five free rentals a week because Blockbuster encouraged employees to watch videos to recommend movies to customers.

7. Earn Money And Pay Taxes. Earning a paycheck every two weeks was a first for me. Seeing some of my money paying taxes was another first for me.

6. Earn Money And Pay For Goods And Services. Earning a paycheck to pay for my own goods and services felt good. I purchased anime; for example, Ranma 1/2 season 1 on VHS tapes. I purchased food between college classes.

5. The Winning Store. Management and employees were happy my store was the top producing store in the district. Winning brought out the joy. Winning hid the conflicts. There were conflicts among all workers.

4. Strengthen My Resume. I added Blockbuster Video to my resume after graduating college. I could see high school students adding retail to their college applications. High school students must work in retail. Why? I answer in number 2.

3. Disrespect Minimum Wage Workers. I learned many people don't respect minimum wage workers. Sad. I rarely ask for help in retail stores. Retail workers don't care about their customers. I leave them alone. I leave them at peace. They worry about more important problems.

2. Lessons Learned Outside The Classrooms. It doesn't matter college or high school. If you don't want to work in customer service, then get an education. You think your friends, classmates, and teachers are stupid. Work in retail. You experience slow thinking co-workers, dumb customers, and jerks worse than your friends, classmates, and teachers. Another lesson learned is the management and employee relationship.

Honorable Mentions: I brought balloons from my house on my Fri night shifts for the children. I used my dad's air compressor to blow up balloons. Also, I went to a Hollywood Video store to spy under a request from the district manager.

1. The Lowest Of The Low. Retail is the lowest of the low in the career totem pole. Janitor is higher than retail. If you don't want to work at the lowest of the low, then get an education. The customers make retail the lowest of the low.

Life Is Hard

Life is hard. Life is supposed to be hard. If life is easy, then life doesn't need lawyers, mental institutions, and therapists. If life is easy, then no need to earn success. Everyone lives with everything on a silver platter. There are exceptions. Life is unfair because life is hard. Moreover, some people live unfortunate and unlucky lives such as bad childhood, physical limitations, poor mental capabilities, and little opportunities. Blame the act of God.

I lived a childhood and young adult life easy peasy. I lived a childhood and young adult life with an easy attitude. I didn't earn my successes. I followed the flow. Following the my life flow was too easy. It wasn't my fault. My parents raised me the easy way.

The life is hard lesson is learned. Strength, courage, grit, intelligence, wisdom, trial and error, training and practicing, good support, patience, and good mentors are required to be successful. They are required to handle life is hard. Failure is a possibility. Timing and luck are factors. People die everyday. People die before success everyday. Regardless, success becomes real after the hard work is completed. There are new successes to achieve afterwards. There are infinite successes to achieve. Choose carefully.

Update On A Past Blog

I'm lucky. I experienced life changing moments. I exclude the common life changing moments such as marriage, newborns, graduation, job promotions, legally drive a car, and first time in a foreign country. Some people don't experience thelife changing moments. I emphasize the again. I shared my the life changing moments at My Four Mount Rushmore Greatest Moments In My Life on Sat Aug 9, 2020. They're cosplaying, growing up, job training, and watching The Shawshank Redemption movie. I expect more life changing moments soon replacing any or all of my present Mount Rushmore.

It's nobody's fault some people don't experience thelife changing moments. These people are victims of circumstances. These people experience bad luck. These people experience bad timing. These people don't have the opportunity to make mistakes. These people don't have the chance to learn from failure. These people slip through the cracks. There are no people to call out their shortcomings.

The system can be blamed. I watched a Roseanne rerun. Roseanne, Jackie, and Nancy needed a loan to start a business. They visited the Small Business Association (SBA) to borrow money. They were frustrated because the SBA didn't loan money. The SBA guaranteed loans from banks. In other words, they needed to get a bank to approve a loan before the SBA assists the three ladies. The fictional television show is an example of social-economic barriers for the poor.

A Steam Bomb, Low Morale, Metal Detectors

I dreamed last night I was interviewed for a temporary job at the Google campus in Mountain View, CA. The job length was a few days. I walked inside the building including the cafeteria after my interview. Morale was low. The workers faked happiness. A fake bomb exploded in the cafeteria. The bomb contents was steam like a pot of boiling water. Everyone leaving the building must pass through metal detectors like Amazon warehouse workers going through security checks before entering and exiting the warehouse building.

I interpreted the dream in multiple perspectives. The temporary job can be part-time, full-time, contractor, or vendor. Permanent employment is a myth in today's workplace. All workers are replaceable. All workers are expendable. The exceptions are workers with careers like Michael Jordan, Tiger Woods, and Meryl Streep. Work performance means nothing.

Many workers don't like their jobs. Many workers don't like their management. Many workers don't like their company. Many workers do a good job acting happy. Workers are human beings. Give it time. Many workers are a time bomb ready to vent their frustrations, anger, and disappointments or steam.

Finally, I interpret the metal detector like personal security. Today's Information Age the private sector and the public sector can find more about personal lives. People must be proactive to protect our lives online and offline. We protect our personal information from thieves and from companies profiting.

Times Are Changing

I dreamed last night I went back in time to an old hobby. I attended a smaller Anime Expo anime convention in the Bay Area. I organized a MahJong gathering. There were seven people at the gathering. I needed one more person. I searched for an eighth person. One place I searched was the video game room. The video game room was located in a tiny room like a crawl space. The eighth person was a father son dual arrived at the gathering. The dream ended with the song The Times They Are a-Changin' by Bob Dylan.

Dylan wrote the song to jump start change in the 1960s. The song influences society to welcome change. There was no connection between the dream and the song. I recognize the dream caused the song to play in my head. I finally understand the song for myself personally speaking.

2020 is a year of significant changes. I can't recall a past year of global significant changes. It's like Beelzebub is collecting the bill for almost a decade of prosperity after the 2008 real estate bubble burst and the 2009-2010 global recession. Governments declare shelter in-place for the COVID-19 pandemic. Black lives matter. The people demand social justice. The people demand end police brutality. Modified professional sports seasons. Schools and colleges teach their students online. Climate change or global warming. The economy is in another global recession; on the other hand, the stock markets show no signs of a global recession. All businesses cutting back on spending and laying off employees. A few businesses are closed permanently; for example, restaurant buffets. Travel, leisure, professional or recreational conferences, and vacations cancelled. The USA election day on Nov 3, 2020 may be the biggest significant change of the year or for the next four years. The USA votes for the next President Of The United States. COVID-19 competes for the 2020 significant change.

The times are changing.

Top Ten Plus One Equals Top Eleven A.J.A.Y. Blogs

Today's top eleven blogs are inspired from a person I used to know. I admit I knew little about him; however, I knew enough he was an idiot. He was weak. Self-esteem was poor. He might impress people as a knight in shining armor. I saw past the armor as a person wearing tin foil. I wrote blogs inspired by his weakness vowing don't be him. Also, I warn men and women don't become him. Time will tell the top eleven A.J.A.Y blogs are true. I have been connecting the dots noted by the periods in the title. The dots have been connecting perfectly.

11. The Gendo Smile From Reddit (Sep 7, 2019). I created my first meme. The character Gendo Ikari from the anime series Neon Genesis Evangelion always smiled when he knew he won. I had been smiling. I knew I was correct.

10. Where Is The Intelligence? (Aug 24, 2019). To quote Steve Jobs, "Life can be much broader once you discover one simple fact, and that is everything around you that you call life was made up by people that were no smarter than you, and you can change it, you can influence it, you can build your own things that other people can use. Um, once you learn that, you'll never be the same again." Are all people in my life losing intelligence or is my intelligence getting stronger?

9. Going Up Or Getting Better Am I? (Sep 8, 2019). My intelligence is getting stronger. I'm becoming a self-trained genius.

8. You're Smarter Than You Think (Nov 7, 2018). Desire is more important than intelligence. Motivation is more important than knowledge.

7. Get Back To The Basics When In A Jam (Sep 11, 2019). The month after my birthday I went back to the basics living a good life. Some of the activities and responsibilities were hiking, job searching six days a week, and eating at new restaurants. I started to read Harry Potter by J.K. Rowling.

6. Sibling Role Reversal (Sep 29, 2019). I was the weakest among my siblings in our childhoods. It was like they learned from my mistakes being the oldest. Times have changed. I'm the strongest among my siblings in our adulthoods. I promise I don't make the same mistakes they're making.

5. Self-Esteem Blog (Nov 14, 2018). It's a judgement call to determine if oneself has poor self-esteem or has strong self-esteem. Also, it's a judgement call if another person says he or she has poor self-esteem or has strong self-esteem. Does he or she accept or reject the other person's opinion? Does he or she make changes to strengthen poor self-esteem?

4. Some Men Who Are Losers Makes All Men Losers (Jul 15, 2018). The few weak, coward, and dumb men make many more men look weak, coward, and dumb.

3. He's More Than Charming Or She's More Than A Sweetheart (Sep 25, 2019). Be a nice person attracts a lover in past generations. Times have change. A rising tide raises all boats. Expectations should be high. Expectations must be high. It's supposed to be hard finding love because marriages last till death do us part.

2. My Two Question Marriage Is He Or She My Spouse Till Death Do Us Part (Dec 1, 2019). I review my two questions. My first question is, "Do you trust your spouse to take of you if you're the weaker person?" My second question is, "Is the couple motivated to work hard on their marriage?" My bonus third question is, "Is your spouse useful?"

1. The Real Life Match Game (Jun 12, 2019). Relationships are matches. The two people must match for a strong relationship.

Shelter In-Place COVID-19 Blog August 2020

California issued shelter in-place orders on Tue Mar 17, 2020. I have been logging the highlights and lowlights. The Aug month was the fastest month in 2020. The Aug month was the hottest in 2020. There were too many wildfires. Air quality was poor for many days. The pandemic daily life is unprecedented, uncharted, new, unknown, and untested.

Sun Aug 2. Watched my first NBA game Portland Trailblazers vs. Boston Celtics during the pandemic. Watched my first NHL game Philadelphia Flyers vs. Boston Bruins during the pandemic. Partially cleaned the exterior and the bottom of the refrigerator.

Mon Aug 3. Weather forecasted high temperature 83 degrees. Actual high temperature 88 degrees. Throat irritation. Craved for Coke. Fatigued symptoms. I didn't fully recover from the stomach ache last week.

Tue Aug 4. Ate Tony & Alba's All Meat Pizza. Weather forecasted high temperature 76 degrees. Actual high temperature 81 degrees.

Wed Aug 5. Weather forecasted high temperature 71 degrees. Actual high temperature 73 degrees. I'm sensitive to big temperature changes in a 24 hour period.

Thur Aug 6. Mopped all floors.

Mon Aug 10. Flat tire on dad's truck driver side rear. I assisted. There were too many people walking at 7:30pm. I jogged at 8:14pm. There were fewer people.

Tue Aug 11. Costco sold soft-serve ice cream in the food court. Costco began selling Halloween candy packs and children's costumes. I saw the most people between 9:30am-10:00am. It must be back to school. Inventory shelves stocked. I realized Costco doesn't sell men's and women's shaving cream or gel.

A car backed out from its parking space while I drove to the exit. The slowly backing car didn't yield. The car blocked the path causing both directions to stop. I noticed the backing car's rear windshield had Uber and Lyft stickers. The car tried to get into an accident to get insurance money?

The street near the fire station was repaved. Gas prices increased.

The PAC-12 college conference delayed all fall sports programs.

Wed Aug 12. Trash collected one day late. I forgot to mention the regular postwoman no longer delivers mail weeks ago. I jogged at 8:15pm. There were too many people outside.

Fri Aug 14. I woke up at 8am. Washed bathroom rugs. I purchased Coke at Safeway three for $5.00. Weather temperature forecasts incorrect all week. The days went from warm to hot. The high temperature was 103 degrees. I worked out in the afternoon while the air conditioner was on instead of the evening with the windows opened. I went to bed at 2am. The windows were fully opened all night while sleeping.

Sun Aug 16. Rain, thunder, and lightning. Three big wildfires started from the lightning.

Mon Aug 17. California rolling blackouts. The record heat wave continued.

Tue Aug 18. I arrived at Costco at 10:13am. I was running late doing errands. There were fewer customers compared to last week. Five wildfires burning in the Bay Area and Santa Cruz County. I closed the windows before I went to bed because of the smoky air. I turned on a desk fan while I slept.

Wed Aug 19. 20 wildfires in five counties. Total acres burned 85,000. Governor Gavin Newson declared State Of Emergency. I started to watch some old episodes of Roseanne on COZY-TV.

Sat Aug 22. Air less smoky during the late afternoon to evening. Spare The Air alerts continued.

Sun Aug 23. I'm out of new books. I began rereading Harry Potter by J.K. Rowling.

Mon Aug 24. Humid, hazy, and unhealthy air forecasted for the next seven days. Today's weather thunder and dry lightning which didn't happen in the Santa Clara County.

Tue Aug 25. I slept with the desk fan turned off. The air was cleaner because of the fog. I opened the window at 25%. The REI Labor Day sale ad arrived. The sales were the best in years with deeper discounts and more useful items IMO.

Wed Aug 26. Most professional sports scheduled were postponed to protest police brutality and the Jacob Blake shooting.

Thur Aug 27. Morning errands. The City Of Cupertino was dead. Few cars. No commute traffic on the freeway. Costco hours changed. Costco opens weekdays between 9am-10am for seniors and the disabled. Costco opens weekdays at 10am for all customers. My nearby Safeway there is a new line for self-checkout for which the Safeway worker must call the next person in line because it's hard for customers to see the right side of the self-checkout.

Fri Aug 28. Used the air compressor to drain the air conditioner drainage pipe. Debris was removed. Dad fixed the thermostat problem which was not powered.

Governor Newson announced a color coded four-tier business reopening plan. The colors are purple or widespread, red or substantial, orange or moderate, and yellow or minimal. There is no green color. 38 of the 58 counties in California are purple, nine are red, eight are orange, and three are yellow.

Sun Aug 30. Two of the three wildfires caused by lightning currently the second and third largest in California history. The LNU Lightning Complex in Sonoma County 368,888 acres burned. The SCU Lightning Complex in Stanislaus County 368,671 acres burned. The largest wildfire in California history is the Mendocino Complex in July 2018 459,123 acres burned.

Mon Aug 31. I shopped at Target to purchase shaving gel. I shopped at Smart & Final to purchase tri-tip. Three businesses closed which were Men's Wearhouse near Target, and Omaha Steaks and Edible Arrangements near Smart & Final. Traffic minimal on streets. One reason was back to school. There was no smoky smell; however, the smoke could be seen up at the hazy sky.

Seven telemarketing or robocalls in the morning.

Six million Americans infected with COVID-19.

Temperatures forecasted lower 80s for the week.